Ashburton Jersey Ltd Makes New $1.39 Million Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,390,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.6% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $112.03 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $283.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.